Stalker
by Wilhelmina Vandom
Summary: One shot. A person stalking a lonely Susan Vandom turns out to change the woman's life for the better when the stalker's true identity is revealed.


It had been a long hard week for one Susan Vandom as she carefully looked around the parking garage before turning off her car. Normally the week she just had wouldn't have been so bad but she had started noticing someone following her during the weekend which at first she put off as a coincidence until they started to actually show up near her work and her home always watching her. It didn't take her long to realize it was some kind of stalker and when she went to the police about it they had apologized saying they couldn't do anything about it.

Tom did try to find the person though after he found out about it but it seemed every time he showed up her stalker would vanish almost as if they knew the police was coming for her. It had caused her to actually start fearing for her safety and maybe her life as she was unsure who the stalker was since they were usually wearing a very baggy gray hoodie that seemed overly worn. It looked like it was two or three sizes to big on them and always had the hood pulled over their head shadows mostly covering their face except for the sunglasses that covered their eyes.

Seeing that there was no one there Susan got out of the car locking the doors after shutting the door and putting the keys in her purse before shouldering it. She was looking forward to a nice quiet evening since Dean had already called off their plans since he had some meting to go to which Susan hadn't felt up to going with him. No, tonight she would take a nice long hot soak and maybe eat something light before curling up on the couch and watch movies all night long.

It was night like this though that still bothered her, she should be spending it with her daughter who her husband had taken away from her years ago. The bastard had paid off a lot of witnesses to testify in his favor to get sole custody of their daughter without giving Susan any visitation tights. By the time she had gotten it appealed Tony had vanished without a trace with little Wilhelmina and she hadn't seen her baby girl since. Tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday and Susan couldn't even call her, much less send her a card and gift for her birthday.

She rubbed her eyes as she slowly made her way toward the elevator to go to her floor keeping an eye out for her stalker. She had searched for years for her baby girl without a trace and it wasn't fair that she had missed every milestone in her child's life. Her first steps, her first words and everything since and now she was going to miss her sweet sixteen.

A small sound off to the side startled her as she reached the elevator and looking down the small service hallway she saw her stalker standing closer to her than she was comfortable with. The light was out in the small hallway which was probably why Susan hadn't seen them earlier, or it could have been her thoughts of her daughter. Whichever it was didn't matter as her stalker froze when Susan swirled around ready to defend herself.

Fear melted away though as her stalker just stood there staring at Susan through those damned shades. Anger quickly replaced it as Susan shoved her stalker into the wall not noticing how light they seemed to be. When her stalker tried to raise her arms over her face Susan realized they were trying to cover their face protectively. Susan grabbed their wrists and pinned them against the wall on either side of the stalkers head and glared at the stranger hatefully.

"Who are you?" Susan demanded as she shook the stalker a little realizing that they had a lot smaller wrists than she thought.

"P-Please don't h-hurt me." The stalker croaked, their voice soft and small and obviously very frightened.

"I've had it!" Susan snapped, some of her anger coming back as she fought off tears. "Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? Why have you been stalking me?"

"I…I just wanted to se you." The stalker said in a low frightened voice, almost impossible to hear but in the quiet garage the voice easily traveled.

The thought made Susan sick, what were they? Some kind of rapist or some pervert who got off on voyeurism? Angrily she let go of the stalker's right arm and reached up to yank the hood back to se a shock of unruly red hair in a style she had seen on several boys but this wasn't a boy, she was sure of it as the glasses fell off with the hood revealing very frightened hazel eyes. Hazel eyes and a face that couldn't belong to anyone other than a girl. A young, teenage girl who looked as if she hadn't had a decent bath for several days to a week if the smell had any indications.

"Why…why have you been stalking me?" Susan demanded as she let the girl's other arm go and backed away a few paces but stayed close enough so she could easily grab her if she tried to run.

"I had to see you." The girl whimpered in fear as she backed against the wall as if she was trying to disappear into it.

"Why?" Susan asked, her voice stern but not holding the anger it had a few minutes ago as she stared into the girl's frightened eyes.

"You…You remind me of her." The girl said closing her eyes tightly though Susan could see a few tears escaping.

"Who do I remind you of honey?" Susan asked softly, reaching over to brush some of the hair out of the girl's face.

"My…My mother." The girl sniffed, shaking a little as tears made trackers down her face. Susan couldn't help but pull the girl into her arms and holding her tight, trying to comfort her. She pushed back the thought that this girl had the same color as her daughter had. This wasn't Wilhelmina, this was someone hurting though and for some reason the older woman wanted to comfort this girl.

WITCH

"My…My mother." Will cried, her mind yelling at her to tell the woman the truth. To tell the woman than she was her mother, that the redhead was this woman's daughter. She couldn't though, she had ran away after not being able to take any more of her father's abuse after she found out this woman's name and took three weeks searching for an address.

She had ran away and traveled half way across the country just to met this woman but as she traveled every nasty thing her father had told her haunted her every step. Did the woman really abandon Will? Did this woman really say she didn't want worthless trash like the redhead and Tony? It would make sense why he hated the redhead so much for causing his wife to leave him. To dump him with an unwanted daughter, a bundle of unwanted trash that neither parent wanted, nor did anyone else.

She relaxed into the woman's arms though basking in the warmth and love she felt there. Why would a woman who believed the redhead stalked her, and looking at it in another way Will realized that she did. After calming down and regaining control over herself Susan pulled away and smiled sadly at the redhead.

"Have you eaten yet?" Susan asked softly and after Will reluctantly nodded continued, "How about you join me then, I was going to order a pizza and I don't want to eat alone." Susan couldn't help smiling as an eager look flashed across the girl's face.

"S-Sure, I'd like that." Will said a little timidly while ignoring her inner voice screaming that this was a trap. That she should escape now before something happened. Instead though she let the older woman lead her onto the elevator.

"So, want to tell me your name?" Susan asked as the doors slid shut before jerking a little before moving upward. Will panicked for a few seconds but she doubted the woman would even know her name if she was the hateful bitch Tony had accused her of being every time Will asked about her.

"Will…Ma…Wilma." Will said almost giving the name she always went by but added the 'ma' to hopefully keep Susan from thinking that she was the same girl as her daughter even though she was.

"That's a very pretty name…Reminds me of…" Susan said rubbing her eyes as her face grew sad for several moments before taking a deep breath regaining her composure.

"Are you okay?" Will asked a little shocked that this woman seemed upset over possibly thinking about her…Well, to Susan thinking about her daughter which Will didn't want to reveal that she was said daughter.

"Y-Yeah, just keep thinking of my daughter. Her name is Wilhelmina but…" Susan sighed heavily, "It's a long story and I don't want to burden you with it."

The door chimed before sliding open to a brightly lit hallway with beautiful carpeting and really nice paintings on the walls. It looked really well taken care of which befitted an expensive apartment complex like the one this one was.

"Come on, honey." Susan said taking Will's hand and leading her down the hall near the end of it to where Will looked strangely at the lock. She had seen the card reader part before on a couple hotels she had to stay at with her dad when they were kicked out of their homes several times. What she didn't recognize was the small screen also on the lock where Susan put her finger and the light flashed before Susan turned the know and pushed the door open letting Will go inside.

Susan followed hitting a light switch by the door turning on the lights to an expensively and beautifully decorated living room. There was a leather couch and loveseat and a glass coffee table with a huge widescreen television mounted on the wall. There were a few floor lamps spread through the room and a huge bay window that looked to have a very beautiful view.

"Honey, do you have any changes of clothes in that bag?" Susan asked pointing to the backpack strapped to the redhead's back.

"Y-Yes." Will flushed as she realized how dirty she was but didn't have any money to wash her clothes much less buy any food. This was her last clean outfit and she had put it on two days ago. "Th-They're all dirty."

"Hmm…I could let you wear one of my sleep shirts while I get your clothes washed." Susan mused, "Where are your parents?"

"I…I ran away." Will said gulping a little, silently praying that the woman wouldn't try to send her back.

"Why would you run away?" Susan asked sadly, studying the girl's nervousness.

In answer Will turned around and puller her hoodie up showing her bare back and sighed when she heard Susan's startled shock. It was easier this was though so Susan wouldn't think she was lying about it. "My dad did this, I've been on the street a few weeks now and they've had a lot of time to heal but they still look bad."

"Wh-What about your mother?" Susan asked unable to believe a mother could be allowing this kind of brutality as Will pulls her top back down straightening it.

"She abandoned me a long time ago…She didn't want worthless filth like me." Will said quietly but apparently the woman heard her as she pulled her back into a hug.

"You can stay here for now, we will figure out what to do in the morning." Susan whispered in the girl's hair, "As I said you can sleep in one of my nightshirts and I'll get your clothes washed."

"Th-Thanks but I don't want to cause you trouble." Will sniffed.

"You aren't, honey." Susan said softly as she pulled away from the girl and dragged her down the hall and into the first room where she threw open a huge closet and started sorting through a bunch of long t-shirts.

"Wow, that one's really cute." Will said smiling at a pink one with a frog design on it. Susan had always found it really tacky but had kept it since it was a gift from Dean. She wasn't about to offer the girl and of her more risky sleepwear as a lot of them was for her private time with Dean though she normally wore a night shirt like the one Will was gushing over only with a solid color or either a simple nightgown.

"You really like it?" Susan asked curiously.

"Sure, I love frogs but…Every time I end up getting something with a frog dad will break it when he gets mad." Will sighed reaching tentatively toward the tacky top which Susan handed her. The redhead handled it very cautiously as if it was the most precious thing on Earth.

"Come on honey," Susan said helping Will get the back pack off before leading her out of the room, "Let's get you cleaned up. I'll order us a pizza while you shower. There's this great little place down the street that will be here in probably fifteen minutes."

"I…I don't know what to say." Will sighs, shaking her head. Why was this woman being so nice to her? It just didn't make any sense, as far as the woman knew she was a stranger. The stranger part was that Susan seemed genuinely upset about thinking about her…about Wilhelmina but the reaction seemed more from sadness than disgust. Susan abandoned her because the redhead was a little piece of trash. It was why no one cared about her.

"Don't worry about it honey, just…Just promise me you won't run away." Susan said a little sadly for some reason. Why would she be sad if Will ran away but even if the redhead wanted to she wouldn't have any clothes to run away in until she got hers back.

"I won't." Will said as Susan opened the bathroom door and shooed Will inside and pointed to a small closet. "Everything you need will be in there...If you want…I can stay and wash your back for you."

"N-No…I'll be fine, thank you." Will squeaked out blushing a little. She wasn't sure why though, her father had seen her without clothes and she learned to live with it. All of her scars weren't visible and the ones that weren't was some of the worst ones.

As soon as Susan left Will started pulling her clothes off dumping them in the hamper sitting there. After she got all of her clothes off she stood in front of the mirror on the back of the door staring at herself in disgust. Her ribs and her bones were easily visible as she had never had much to eat if anything as her father much preferred drinking their money away even if it meant no food or any other necessities for the redhead.

Sighing in disgust she decided she should get her shower and rejoin the woman before she started worrying. The bathroom was even beautiful like the rest of the apartment she had seen so far. The tiles seemed to be real marble and besides the elegant looking sink there was a shower stall and a separate whirlpool. The bathroom was very spacious as well allowing very easy movement. She looked longingly at the whirlpool but decided a quick shower would be better. She had only had a few real baths in her life as most of the places she ever lived at only had the small showers and no tub.

As she got into the stream of water after turning it on she let it cascade down her body and it was very warm unlike the last home she stayed at with her father. The water was always lukewarm at best as the hot water heater was on its last leg and the landlord refused to fix it until it went out completely.

As the water ran down her face she slightly chuckled as it mixed with her new tears, at least no one would se them if they were there but who would honestly care? As soon as the woman found out who she was, what she was Susan would throw her out so quick it would hurt. Well it would hurt anyways no matter what.

WITCH

Susan tried to keep the tears in check as she kept thinking about her baby girl god knew where. Was Wilhelmina going through the same things this girl had apparently gone through? Was her baby girl safe and loved or was that bastard Tony making her life a living hell like this bastard was doing to poor Wilma?

Hanging up the phone she pulled out a picture from the nightstand at the end of the couch where she kept her cordless phone main base at as she had extensions in both the kitchen and one in her bedroom. The picture was of her holding a small baby girl with a shock of red hair. She was about a year old in the picture and just before Tony almost ruined Susan's life. She still had the scars on her wrists when she tried to kill herself when she realized that the most precious thing in her life was taken from her and it was all done legally.

A sharp gasp above her should from behind her drew her attention up to a wide eyed girl standing there. Susan handed the girl the picture that the redhead gingerly took and looked at the picture. "That's my baby girl, Wilhelmina when she was a year old. It was…It was before that son of a bitch ex-husband of mine took off with her."

"You look…You look like you really care for her in this picture." Will said unable to take her eyes off the picture until Susan gently too kit back and carefully put it back in the nightstand.

"I love her very much and I'd give my life just to tell her that and hold her in my arms at least one last time." Susan sighed sadly.

"I…I wish I had a mother who loved me." Will sighed as Susan took her in. The nightshirt was baggy to but so much more of the girl was visible which enraged the older woman. God, what was that bastard of a father doing, starving the poor child?

The chime from the door bell distracted the two and Susan pointed to the kitchen where Susan asked Will to wait while she took some money off the nightstand that she left there earlier to pay the delivery man as well as a twenty dollar tip. She knew the boy and he was really nice and saving to go to college when he graduates from high school.

"Hey Miss V, brought your pizza." Martin said opening the door already pulling the pizza from one of those bags that kept them warm.

"Hey kiddo, here's the money." Susan said with a soft smile handing the boy the cash which caused a huge smile across his lips.

"Wow, thanks Miss V." Martin said, snorting a little causing Will to smile a little. He was a bit of a geek but he was a sweet geek. If only that Irma girl he always went on would look past the exterior and se the boy inside dying to get out.

"Your very welcome Martin, how's your college fund coming?" Susan asked smiling as she took the pizza and the six pack of Pepsi he had.

"Great Miss V, thanks to you." Martin said, snorting a little as he laughed nervously.

"Don't think anything of it Martin, I…I'm glad to help." Susan said, growing a little sad again as her emotions seemed to be on a bad roller coaster at the moment.

"Hey, cheer up I know you'll find her." Martin said with a soft yet very positive smile.

"Thanks hun, for everything." Susan said smiling a little more. He had always been able to cheer her up, he just seemed to have that gift. Irma was a little foolish not seeing past first appearances but she would learn one day. It was a lesson everyone learned as they matured and one that Irma might be too late if she kept shunning the boy like she does.

"I better get going Miss V but thanks for the tip." Martin said as he turned to leave, "I'll see you later."

"Come buy this weekend and you can try our new game." Susan smiled as she saw the boys face become excited over the aspect

"Wow, thanks!" Martin called as he hurried off down the hall. He was one of the few families that didn't have much money that stayed in the apartment. He was a big computer geek like she had turned into and she enjoyed letting him come over and try out some of Simultech's newest games and applications and get his input on them. She also liked letting him get experience working on computers by letting him work on the ones she had in the apartment.

"Drive carefully!" Susan called back smiling as he got onto the elevator before closing the door and taking a deep breath before walking into the kitchen where the redhead looked really down as she sat at the small table with her head hanging and her arms resting on the table.

"I…I'll wait in the living room why you eat if it's okay." Will said sadly starting to get up confusing Susan a little. She told the girl that she was getting the pizza for the both of them didn't she? This didn't make much sense…

"Aren't you going to eat with me?" Susan asked giving the girl a small encouraging smile.

"Y-You were really serious?" Will asked in obvious surprise, "You're going to let me actually eat…Not the scraps or crust?"

"God, what did that bastard do to you?" Susan growled a little angrily scaring the redhead a little as Susan put the pizza and soda on the table. The girl started backing away in fright but Susan was quicker as she reached out grabbing the girl's wrist before the redhead could get away and pulled the girl to her.

"I'm sorry…Please don't…" Will whimpered, an intense fear taking over her face.

"Shhh…Don't Wilma, it's okay…No one is going to hurt you." Susan said holding the girl to her, rubbing the redhead's back in an attempt to reassure and calm her down. Silently the woman swore to herself that she would se the man who was behind this girl's suffering pay dearly for it.

"I-I'm sorry." Will hiccupped as she looked up into the genuine loving eyes of her mother. There wasn't any of the traces of the cold hearted bitch that her father had always said Susan was. Then again the woman didn't know who Will really was and would probably turn into the monster Tony had always claimed she was as soon as finding out the truth.

"Shh dear, there's no need to be sorry." Susan said smiling gently as she ushered the malnourished redhead to a chair and helped her sit before taking her own seat next to the girl. Opening the box she noticed the redhead practically drooling at the fully loaded pizza. Susan had to nudge the poor girl to finally get her to take a slice of it carefully and bring it to her lips taking a small bite. The tears in the girls eyes caused Susan to want to cry herself at seeing how mistreated this child had been. It kept making her think more and more of her daughter, how her baby was doing and how Tony was treating her. It wouldn't be much of a jump of logic to see Tony treating their daughter like this girl had been just to hurt their baby as well as Susan just out of spite.

"I'm sorry…A-Aren't you?" The girl asked with a little fear still in her voice as she looked up at Susan. Those eyes were a little haunting truthfully, looking into them almost felt like looking into the eyes of the one year old baby in one of her pictures.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about my daughter for a moment…I just really miss her." Susan sighed sadly taking a small slice of the pizza and bit into it as the redhead stared at the woman in shock.

"You abandoned m...her…Why would you miss her?" Will asked before shrinking back from the anger that flashed through the woman's eyes.

"I didn't abandon my daughter, my worthless ex-husband ran off with her and I've been looking since." Susan said a little stiffly, obviously trying very hard to keep from snapping. Will was shaking when Susan rested her arm on the table, her blouse's sleeve riding up showing the woman's wrist and a few scars over the inside.

"What happened to your wrist?" Will asked quietly, almost to herself. Did her father do that to Susan?

"I…I'm sorry for getting upset but I'm not going to hurt you." Susan sighed, "This…" Susan sighed rubbing her wrist self consciously. "This was a mistake…I tried…I tried to kill myself when they…That son of a bitch, he paid off a bunch of witnesses to testify against me. I lost my daughter…They gave that bastard full custody and he ran off with our daughter. I hired a private investigator but when he couldn't find her I…I tried to kill myself."

"Oh god." Will gasped looking at this woman in horror. All these years Will had blamed the woman for her pain, for abandoning her. Like a fool she believed everything Tony had said after all the lies he told. Question was though, could she believe this woman? She just didn't know, she couldn't really bring herself to tell the older woman the truth, not yet. She was still sure the woman would through her out then and…She just wanted to spend a little more time here with her. Even if under false pretenses it felt good to be with her mother.

"It was my daughter who helped me…Pulled me out of my depression." Susan said shaking her head, "I know it sounds stupid but I had a dream of this girl in shadows, I couldn't really make her out but I knew…I knew in my heart it was Wilhelmina."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Will said softly as Susan wiped away the forming tears, smiling gently at the redhead. Susan reached over and ruffled Will's hair laughing a bit though it was strained.

"Don't worry about it, just finish the pizza before it gets cold." Susan said as she stood up.

"B-But what about you?" Will asked in surprise, "You only ate one piece."

"Like I said dear, I can't eat a whole pizza myself. In fact, that was my limit." Susan said with a smile.

Susan started to walk out of the kitchen, thinking about those eyes again. Why would a girl stalk her, even if she did remind the redhead of the girl's mother? It was something that has bugged her a little ever since bringing her up to the apartment. She was still a little nervous about what the girl's true intentions were, as hungry and scared as the girl was the redhead may have been going to rob her and kept backing out at the last second.

"You abandoned m...her…Why would you miss her?"

Was the girl about to say 'Me?' That couldn't be Wilhelmina, her name was Wilma but it was so similar. Why would she lie about not being Wilhelmina though? Then again she might want to know what she was like before admitting to being her daughter.

Turning around to study the girl's face Susan smiled a little, the girl could be related to her if she didn't know better but did she? She knew this wasn't her daughter, a part of her prayed that it wasn't as she hoped that Tony had actually taken good care of their baby. Why then was this girl bothering Susan so much? Why was the girl reminding her so much of Wilhelmina?

"Wilhelmina." Susan said.

"It's Will." Will said automatically before dropping the pizza that was almost to her lips as she looked up in shock and horror at the older woman. The redhead jumped up and started to back away from the woman who was storming toward her. With nowhere to run she hugged herself as she closed her eyes tightly waiting for the pain to start. "Please…Please don't hurt me."

The shock was that instead of something hitting her, a pair of arms drew her into a tight, almost painful hug as the woman was sobbing.

"Oh god baby." Susan cried, "I'm so sorry…I tried finding you…I tried so hard."

"It's okay." Will cried herself managing to work her arms around the woman hugging her back, "I…I'm sorry too…"

"Shhh baby, it's okay." Susan sniffed, "I love you baby."

"I…I love you to mom." Will said, something she dreamed about saying for years. Her mother really did love her and Will loved her. At that moment she knew that everything was going to be okay for the first time in years.

NOTES

Sorries updates have been slow but I've had some personal issues which has made it kind of slow to write. I do want to thank XV-Dragon for all his help on this as it was a lot, thankies.


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